RESEARCH: Mice with MS-like Condition Walk Again After Human Stem Cell Treatment

[ActiveMSers]

Mice too disabled to feed themselves responded dramatically to a single injection of human neural stem cells.

At the start of a recent experiment, a group of mice were so disabled by a disease similar to multiple sclerosis (MS) that they had to be hand-fed. But just two weeks after treatment with human neural stem cells, they were walking on their own.

Funded by the National MS Society, the study’s results, published online today in the journal Stem Cell Reports, surprised researchers who expected the stem cells to be rejected. Instead, the mice completely regained motor function, and six months later they still showed no signs of slowing down.

FULL HEALTHLINE ARTICLE
http://www.healthline.com/health-new...in-mice-051514

[ActiveMSers]

In the UK's Mirror...

Treatment with human stem cells has allowed mice crippled by a version of multiple sclerosis to walk again after less than two weeks.

Scientists admit to being astonished by the result and believe it opens up a new avenue of research in the quest for solutions to MS.

The University of Utah's Professor Tom Lane said: "My postdoctoral fellow Dr Lu Chen came to me and said 'the mice are walking'. I didn't believe her."

The genetically engineered mice had a condition that mimics the symptoms of human MS.

They were so disabled they could not stand long enough to eat and drink on their own and had to be hand-fed.

The scientists transplanted human neural stem cells into the animals expecting them to be rejected and provide no benefit.

Instead the experiment yielded spectacular results. Within 10 to 14 days, the mice had regained motor skills and were able to walk again. Six months later, they showed no sign of relapsing.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technol...#ixzz31t0mrW7O
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[ActiveMSers]

From Fox News...

For patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), current treatment options only address early-stage symptoms of the debilitating disease. Now, new research has found a potential treatment that could both stop disease progression and repair existing damage.

In a study published in Stem Cell Reports, researchers utilized a group of paralyzed mice genetically engineered to have an MS-like condition. Initially, the researchers set out to study the mechanisms of stem cell rejection in the mice. However, two weeks after injecting the mice with human neural stem cells, the researchers made the unexpected discovery that the mice had regained their ability to walk.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/0...ple-sclerosis/

[ActiveMSers]

From the UK MS Society (to put it all in perspective)

New research looking at stem cell transplantation in mice has been featured in the media today – but we think some of the coverage is misleading.

There is always a lot of both hope and hype around stem cell research, but often the reality falls somewhere in the middle.

In the study, researchers injected human stem cells into the spinal cord of mice with demyelination, which led to some of the mice recovering some mobility. While we are really encouraged by the results of the study, we want to urge caution in their interpretation. Here we outline 4 reasons why.

http://www.mssociety.org.uk/ms-resea...lts-really-mea

[ActiveMSers]

This is the most interesting statement (and disappointing) from MS UK's article:

3. This study didn’t show nerve cell repair or replacement

When the researchers studied the spinal cords of the mice, what they saw was reduced immune activity and also evidence of remyelination. However they did not see evidence of nerve cell repair or replacement. This means that this type of transplant couldn’t reverse disability in people with progressive MS. This reality is contradictory to some of the headlines claiming things like “breakthrough cure”.

[Sparky10]

Wonder if it'll be tested the other way around.